As Vice President Kamala Harris officially received the presidential nomination Thursday evening, thousands of people marched within sight of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) demanding an embargo on U.S. arms shipments to Israel and an end to the war on Gaza.

Democrats wanted the protests — and any conversation about Palestine in general — kept on the sidelines of their convention as much as possible. But history will remember that the streets of Chicago were full of people demanding an end to genocide and occupation in Palestine as Harris took the stage.

Led in part by Palestinian and Jewish activists, the march was a mixture of joy, anger, grief and frustration that capped off a week of protests across downtown Chicago. Despite handwringing about security, the protests remained largely peaceful as an estimated 30,000 demonstrators took the streets over the course of the week.

Like previous protests, Thursday’s mass march was surrounded by hundreds of police on foot and bicycle at all times. Demonstrators from across the country declared Harris and President Joe Biden complicit with genocide in Gaza, where Israel’s 10-month siege and assault has killed at least 40,000 people, and left two-thirds of the enclave’s buildings damaged or destroyed.

Some protesters were seasoned activists from the various movements that have found lines of solidarity with Palestine, including anti-war veterans, climate justice activists, and labor organizers. Others were simply horrified by the tremendous suffering in Gaza — and the Democratic Party’s silence on the issue after continuously arming Israel with weapons despite allegations of war crimes and forced starvation on the international stage.

Many marchers came from communities and movements that Democrats often consider as........

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